MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'bioethics'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:53:07 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5182319&cid=t_104997_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FA5G531mWaWs%2F Earlier this week, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues declared that US-funded researchers knew they violated ethical standards when they deliberately infected Guatemalan prison inmates and mental patients with syphillis in the 1940s. The US apologized last year and the panel was convened to investigate and a final report is due later this year. About 1,300 people were infected with venereal disease, more than half of them with syphilis, including inmates who were exposed to infected prostitutes brought into jails, and male and female patients in a mental hospital. Some subjects had bacteria poured on scrapes made on their genitals, arms or faces. And they were not informed they were participating in medical research in which they were given penicillin to determi... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5182319 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:20:37 +0100 5182319 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069422&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F07%2F26%2Fnarrative-matters-reporting-child-abuse%2F In the newest Health Affairs Narrative Matters essay, a seventeen-year-old West African immigrant who’s off to college says her facial bruising was inflicted by her father, and a young pediatrician learns about — and rethinks — the process of reporting child abuse and working with Child Protective Services. The essay, “Oh, My Father Hit Me,” [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069422 Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:47:34 +0100 5069422 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872049&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F05%2F26%2Fhealth-wonk-review-memorial-day-edition%2F If you’re traveling over the long weekend, you’ll want to take along some reading material. While some might reach for a good novel by John Grisham or Dan Brown, the health policy blogs in this edition of the Health Wonk Review tackle equally compelling mysteries. Was the Medicare Trustees report really that gloomy? If Workers [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872049 Thu, 26 May 2011 13:29:21 +0100 4872049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4847925&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F008091.html Writing for Discover's "Science Not Fiction" blog Kyle Munkittrick reviews films made by Pixar and finds a hidden message in Pixar films about the need to respect and accept non-human intelligences. I see this message as more likely to do us a disservice than to make our future brighter. The new is seen as dangerous and therefore feared. Pixar’s Human as Partner films emphasize that should a non-human intelligence arise, be it a rat or a robot or a monstrous alien, there will be no welcoming with arms wide open from either side. Victory in the battle for the rights and respect from both groups will come from an act of exemplary personhood and humaneness by those who dare to... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4847925 Thu, 19 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4847925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4747585&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F008045.html This report brings to mind a larger issue that looms in our future: Once it becomes possible to do full body rejuvenation what to do about the most dangerous criminals who have been sentenced to 50, 100 or longer (yet finite) in jail? Keep them alive with... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4747585 Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4747585 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642566&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2F28%2Fmedicares-embedded-ethics-the-challenge-of-cost-control-in-an-aging-society%2F The challenge of reining in the rising costs of the Medicare Program is particularly thorny because it confronts a recalcitrant societal tension between the necessity for cost control and the value of open-ended technology use for life extension in the later years. That tension is becoming more deeply entrenched because a growing number of older [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642566 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:02:43 +0100 4642566 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4580872&cid=t_104997_83_f&fid=34690&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Finsolence%2F%7E3%2F5gDO4m7kl-c%2Frevisiting_the_issue_of_ethics_in_human.php Progress in science-based medicine depends upon human experimentation. Scientists can do the most fantastic translational research in the world, starting with elegant hypotheses, tested through in vitro and biochemical experiments, after which they are tested in animals. They can understand disease mechanisms to the individual amino acid level in a protein or nucleotide in a DNA molecule. However, without human testing, they will never know if the end result of all that elegant science will actually do what it is intended to do and to make real human patients better. They will never know if the fruits of all that labor will actually cure disease. However, it is in human experimentation where the ethics of science tend to clash with the mechanisms of science. I refer to "science-based medic... Respectful Insolence blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4580872 Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:00:01 +0100 4580872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540543&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Ftransplant-proposal-provides-model-for-reform-debate%2F For the past two years, debate as to whether health reform would result in rationing has underscored the contradiction between the health care Americans would like to have and what we’re actually willing to pay for it.  One may note that the terms budgeting and rationing are synonymous – especially today in an era of [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540543 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:18:20 +0100 4540543 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540538&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007945.html In a legal case in Camden County New Jersey a couple used his sperm and donated egg to carry a baby to term in a surrogate woman. Now the wife wants her name on the birth certificate and The state Registrar is balking that the wife has no legal standing to claim maternity. But the state Registrar, an office that records birth certificates, asserted after the child's birth the wife had no legal grounds to claim maternity. Her only option, it said, is stepparent adoption. The Family Court judge in Camden agreed with the Registrar, which wants to issue a second birth certificate -- this one with the mother's name left blank. And now, a three-judge appellate panel has upheld... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540538 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4540538 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489614&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007912.html A Chicago woman took matters into her own hand in order to become a grandmother. Almost 39 weeks ago, Kristine Casey set out on an unusual journey to help her daughter and answer a spiritual calling. Her goal was achieved late Wednesday when she gave birth to her own grandson at age 61. I'm not sure this sets any kind of record. A 65 year old woman in India gave birth from in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other women in their 60s have managed to give birth using hormones to make their wombs function to accept embryos prepared by in vitro fertilization. Also, a 52 year old woman gave birth to her grandsons. But some of the IVF pregnancies of... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489614 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4489614 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4472941&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007902.html A view which I see as completely wrong: The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) is committed to the idea that some non-human animals meet the criteria of legal personhood and thus are deserving of specific rights and protections. My take: That someone could say the above in all seriousness stems from impractical and romantic notions about where rights come from in the first place. Rights come from a capacity and motivation to respect rights in others. If the very concept of rights is beyond the mental capacity of beings around you to understand then these beings are not going to treat you as a rights-possessing being. The characteristics that IEET uses to describe why animals have rights fall... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4472941 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4472941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4464444&cid=t_104997_83_f&fid=34690&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Finsolence%2F%7E3%2FK92owcSihZY%2Fanother_teen_endangered_by_alternative_m_1.php Judge Orders Surgery For Teen Wrestler: MyFoxPHILLY.com I have to be honest here. I don't know for sure what I think of the latest developments in the Mazeratti Mitchell case. As you may recall from a couple of days ago, Mazeratti Mitchell is a 16 year old wrestler in Philadelphia who suffered a spinal cord injury while wrestling. Fortunately, given his subsequent course in which he has been recovering function, it was clearly not a complete transection of the spinal cord, but it was severe. His doctors recommended surgery to stabilize his spine and allow his injured spinal cord to heal. Having had extensive experience in trauma during my training, that I agree with. The physicians also apparently wanted to use steroids, which are, as I pointed out before, not really indicated anymore i... Respectful Insolence blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4464444 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:00:00 +0100 4464444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4441967&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007879.html Here's an ethical question on the right to know by an artificially intelligent robot: Should a robot be free to read its full programming and to read commentary on its ethical programming about how to defeat that programming? Another way to put it: Should the robot be free to read its own DNA? In my recent post Genetic Privacy And Identical Twins I asked whether one identical twin should be free to publish their DNA sequence even though effectively that would mean the world would learn the DNA sequence of both twins. When should a right to privacy trump other considerations? Well, it just occurred to me to move the problem into the realm of artifiical life forms. A large... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4441967 Sun, 06 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4441967 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4433065&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007870.html Suppose you have a right to genetic privacy. You might believe you do. Suppose you have an identical twin. Suppose the identical twin decides to publish his (or her) genetic sequence on the web. Do you have the right to stop this? People who have identical genetic sequences each can get themselves sequenced and then release their genetic data for all the world to download and study. But when an identical twin does this another person also gets their genetic sequence released to the world. So should twins be able to legally stop each other from publishing their shared DNA sequence on the web?... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4433065 Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4433065 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4433066&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007869.html A fertility clinic offers intriguing choices for financing the use of egg donors and in vitro fertilization to start a pregnancy. Shady Grove Fertility's Shared Risk 100% Refund program continues to be a very popular option for patients.  The Shared Risk program offers IVF and Donor Egg patients up to six treatments for a flat fee, with a guaranteed, 100% refund if treatment is not successful. More than 1,000 patients enrolled in the Shared Risk 100% Refund program for IVF or Donor Egg treatment last year, an increase of nearly 18% over 2009. Think about where this can lead. As biotechnology for selecting genetically genes and embryos for implantation improves one can imagine fertility clinics offering financial guarantees for how... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4433066 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4433066 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4355717&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmedical-errors-should-doctors-always-fess-up%2F2011.01.16 From the Medscape Medical Ethics article entitled “‘Some Worms Are Best Left In The Can’: Should You Hide Medical Errors?“: Consequences aside, from a strictly ethical perspective, if a patient doesn’t realize that his physician made a mistake, should the physician fess up? Before you jump to conclusions (as I did), look at the article’s three parts. It’s about a survey. The title is on the inflammatory side; the article is a window into physicians’ views. The introduction continues: Evidence of the complex prisms through which physicians view these issues was apparent in the replies to four questions asked in Medscape’s exclusive ethics survey. More than 10,000 physicians responded to the survey in 2010. Subheads: – Mistakes that don’t harm p... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4355717 Sun, 16 Jan 2011 20:00:12 +0100 4355717 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4322507&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fpain-contracts-do-they-threaten-the-doctor-patient-relationship%2F2011.01.07 Doctors today are wary about treating chronic pain. One of the main worries is precipitating fatal opioid overdoses. Indeed, according to the CDC, and reported by American Medical News, “fatal opioid overdoses tripled to nearly 14,000 from 1999 to 2006 … [and] emergency department visits involving opioids more than doubled to nearly 306,000 between 2004 and 2008.” Requiring chronic pain patients to sign pain contracts is a way to mitigate this risk. But how does that affect the doctor-patient relationship? Indeed, a contract is an adversarial tool. Essentially, it states that a patient must comply with a strict set of rules in order to receive medications, including where and how often they obtain controlled substances, and may involve random drug testing. Break the contract and the ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4322507 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:00:11 +0100 4322507 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4281394&cid=t_104997_122_f&fid=34736&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FChannelN-PodcastsPoweredByOdiogo%2F%7E3%2FQk3g6-Bkx3s%2F Controversies Surrounding the Pediatric Bipolar Diagnosis & Treatment (Bioethics Briefs) A research scholar at a bioethics center describes issues and controversies with children diagnosed with bipolar disorders or a newer diagnosis proposed for the DSM-V, temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria (TDD), which would reclassify those who may have been given a bipolar label. Discusses some issues involved with changing diagnoses, and with the lack of effective treatments for either. Excellent, very informative commentary examining pros and cons. (Source: Channel N) Channel N blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4281394 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:06:22 +0100 4281394 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4105636&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007596.html The Polish Parliament is debating laws to regulate in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since no consensus has emerged 6 proposals that span a wide range of possible approaches are being debated. The Sejm is debating a total of six bills, which range far and wide in their approach to the procedure. One bill for example proposes state subsidization for IVF, while another wants those that offer and use the procedure to be imprisoned. The Catholic Church in Poland is strongly opposed to IVF. That they call it "the younger sister of eugenics" as a way to smear it is curious. What is morally wrong with trying to give your children a better average genetic complement than you have in your own... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4105636 Sun, 24 Oct 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4105636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031503&cid=t_104997_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2Fb81B6yhakqM%2F The last several years have seen increasing concern over ethics in the pharmaceutical industry – from the way clinical trials are run and trial data is disclosed to promotional activities aimed at consumers and interactions with the medical community and universities. Among the many observers who make a living by witnessing this unfolding morass is Carl Elliott, a professor at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota, who has published a book called “White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine.” We spoke with him about his observations and insights… Pharmalot: Do we live in unethical times? Elliott: You could definitely make that argument, although the nature of what’s going on is not really new. When I was writing about the drug reps, I asked th... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031503 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:00:53 +0100 4031503 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3920797&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007452.html Rent-a-womb is a big international business in India. You can outsource just about any work to India these days, including making babies. Reproductive tourism in India is now a half-a-billion-dollar-a-year industry, with surrogacy services offered in 350 clinics across the country since it was legalized in 2002. The primary appeal of India is that it is cheap, hardly regulated, and relatively safe. Note this combination: Hardly regulated and safe. I bet surrogacy dad Patri Friedman is not surprised. Once it becomes possible to create eggs by turning adult cells back into stem cells even women in their later 40s and later will be able to have biological children using surrogacy. Many women who spend her 20s and 30s making lots... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3920797 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3920797 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3866951&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007406.html The state of California, in its infnite wisdom, has decreed that incoming freshmen at UC Berkeley can't see the results of free genetic tests that were offered as an educational experience. The University of California, Berkeley, won’t tell about 700 students the results of genetic tests performed on their saliva, after the state health department barred the institution from proceeding. The claim: genetic testing must be done by certified laboratories. Safety Nazis? Or power and control freaks? The 3 genes to be tested all have dietary implications. Students were to receive information about three genes relating to their ability to break down lactose, metabolize alcohol and absorb folates. The UC Berkeley students are basically being told "You can't handle the... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3866951 Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3866951 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3854489&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007394.html P300 brain wave monitoring might work as a better lie detector test. In the Northwestern study, when researchers knew in advance specifics of the planned attacks by the make-believe "terrorists," they were able to correlate P300 brain waves to guilty knowledge with 100 percent accuracy in the lab, said J. Peter Rosenfeld, professor of psychology in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. For the first time, the Northwestern researchers used the P300 testing in a mock terrorism scenario in which the subjects are planning, rather than perpetrating, a crime. The P300 brain waves were measured by electrodes attached to the scalp of the make-believe "persons of interest" in the lab. The most intriguing part of the study in terms... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3854489 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3854489 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3786987&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Farticle-boasts-new-birth-centers-luxury-hotel-amenities%2F2010.07.25 Here’s the Minneapolis Star Tribune headline: “Buffalo birthing center has the latest amenities.” And here’s an excerpt: Starting in August, new mothers will have a chance to multi-task in style in Buffalo, Minn. The local hospital is unveiling its new birth center, where every patient room will be equipped with an iPod docking station, a flat-screen TV and DVD player, a soaking tub, rocking chair and refrigerator — oh, and a place for the baby to sleep, too. Buffalo Hospital has spent $7.1 million to turn its old labor and delivery unit into a state-of-the-art facility to appeal to a new generation of patients. At maternity wards around the country, that increasingly means catering to patients and families as if they’re at “a luxury hotel,” ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3786987 Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:00:31 +0100 3786987 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3746990&cid=t_104997_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FLa0s0ITMqyY%2F What are the ethical issues the FDA faces when requiring a drugmaker to run a randomized clinical trial for an approved drug when a safety issue exists? The agency is confronting this dilemma as it evaluates the Avandia diabetes pill, which was linked to heart attacks and strokes in two large observational studies (see here and here) and will be the subject of a contentious FDA advisory committee meeting next week. To gain some guidance and political cover, FDA commish Margaret Hamburg recently asked an Institute of Medicine committee to explore this question - and four others concerning ethical and scientific issues in studying approved drugs, which will be answered in a more detailed analysis next spring. Given the Avandia debate, Glaxo is having trouble recruiting patients (see this). S... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3746990 Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:55:06 +0100 3746990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3740823&cid=t_104997_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FLa0s0ITMqyY%2F What are the ethical issues the FDA faces when requiring a drugmaker to run a randomized clinical trial for an approved drug when a safety issue exists? The agency is confronting this dilemma as it evaluates the Avandia diabetes pill, which was linked to heart attacks and strokes in two large observational studies (see here and here) and will be the subject of a contentious FDA advisory committee meeting next week. To gain some guidance and political cover, FDA commish Margaret Hamburg recently asked an Institute of Medicine committee to explore this question - and four others concerning ethical and scientific issues in studying approved drugs, which will be answered in a more detailed analysis next spring. Given the Avandia debate, Glaxo is having trouble recruiting patients (see this). S... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3740823 Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:55:06 +0100 3740823 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3690910&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Flatest-issue-of-bioethics-journal.html The current issue of the journal Bioethics focuses on the problem of ghostwriting in the medical literature and is well worth a read. At this point, the main three articles on the topic appear to be free (at least I was able to gain full text access today, and I have no subscription to the journal.)The first article, by Tobenna D. Anekwe at Harvard School of Public Health, argues that ghostwriting is in fact a form of plagiarism. While ghostwriting is sometimes called "honorary authorship" in order to make it seem acceptable, Anekwe makes the following interesting point:"Yet honorary authorship is a form of plagiarismbecause it entails claiming authorship for work thatwas done by others. The twist is that, here, the corporation(the willing ‘victim’ of plagiarism) actually wants thescie... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3690910 Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:22:00 +0100 3690910 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3655564&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E5%2F_gsC6tFuQ5w%2FWBP_Highlights.pdf Dear Friends, We launched the Women’s Bioethics Project six years ago. With your support, we developed innovative programs, policy recommendations and research on ethical issues pertaining to women’s health, reproductive technologies, and neuroethics. We made a difference: our work brought these important issues to new audiences and encouraged women to participate in policy development around bioethics questions. Please take a look at the “Report to the Board” highlighting some of the key activities we accomplished together. I sincerely appreciate the time, talent, and financial resources you have contributed to make our effort a success. Thank you. We now have an extraordinary opportunity to take our work to the next level. As Craig Venter and his colleagues create "the first sel... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3655564 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:40:57 +0100 3655564 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3641042&cid=t_104997_99_f&fid=35344&url=http%3A%2F%2Fzackarysholemberger.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fauthentic-values-and-real-interests.html These are very brief notes from a talk I attended at the Osler Center Day this past Friday.Sulmasy presented what he calls the traditional tripartite view of EOL decision making, each part of which suffers from significant defects. The top of the pyramid, the optimum, is customarily held to be the living will (LW). However, living wills are both too vague ("no heroic measures") and too specific ("CPR but no counterpulsation"), involve interpretation of texts, and aren't done by most people anyway (current living-will rates are about 15%, per Sulmasy).The next best choice is held to be substituted judgment (SJ). Sulmasy pointed out that SJ (a) places significant psychological pressure on families, with attendant sequelae; (b) is difficult to instruct family members in, because its meaning i... Zackary Sholem Berger blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3641042 Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:15:00 +0100 3641042 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3603868&cid=t_104997_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FM_qutDlC97A%2F The hoopla continues over the TIDE trial, which GlaxoSmithKline hopes will vindicate its Avandia diabetes pill. You may recall that Avandia was tied in earlier studies to an increased risk of heart attacks and the TIDE trial compares Avandia with Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ Actos, which hasn’t generated the same degree of safety concerns. However, the trial has been criticized for being unethical, since it compares one pill with known cardiac risks with a seemingly safer alternative. The FDA, in fact, may halt the trial prior to a July 13 advisory committee meeting to review Avandia (see here) and, meanwhile, Glaxo is having trouble enrolling patients (see here). And now another heavy hitter has joined the chorus of concerns and is demanding the agency end the trial. Ruth Macklin, ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3603868 Thu, 27 May 2010 16:06:47 +0100 3603868 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3435033&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2FLv3I-txRNcU%2Fbioethics-on-tv-what-is-being-portrayed.html (Image credit: ABC/Eric McCandless)It is likely no surprise to regular viewers of the television medical dramas “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House, M.D.” that bioethical issues and the conflict they create are frequent components of the storylines. These programs aim to entertain, and the drama inherent in contentious bioethical issues seems a natural fit. Furthermore, these programs aim for realism, frequently employing physicians as consultants to check their medical facts. This combination of realism and frequency raises concern that these medical dramas have the potential to affect viewers’ beliefs and perceptions of bioethics. In fact, previous studies have demonstrated this phenomenon in other areas, including organ transplantation and obesity.With that background, I, along with... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3435033 Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:47:26 +0100 3435033 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3429139&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007065.html Once perfected this technology will lose us the ability to fake taking pills when wrongfully locked up in an insane asylum. Seeking a way to confirm that patients have taken their medication, University of Florida engineering researchers have added a tiny microchip and digestible antenna to a standard pill capsule. The prototype is intended to pave the way for mass-produced pills that, when ingested, automatically alert doctors, loved ones or scientists working with patients in clinical drug trials. “It is a way to monitor whether your patient is taking their medication in a timely manner,” said Rizwan Bashirullah, UF assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering. Such a pill is needed because many patients forget, refuse or bungle the job... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3429139 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3429139 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366165&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007018.html This study underscores the importance of neurological research as it relates to behavior," Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said. "The findings may help us find new ways to intervene before a personality trait becomes antisocial behavior." The results were published March 14, 2010, in Nature Neuroscience. "Psychopaths are often thought of as cold-blooded... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366165 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3366165 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3350250&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2010%2F03%2F09%2Fshock-me-tube-me-line-me-an-er-doc-reassesses-dnrs%2F In “Shock Me, Tube Me, Line Me,” a Narrative Matters essay in the February 2010 issue of Health Affairs, emergency physician Boris Veysman sets forth his own version of an advance directive and challenges common perceptions about care at the end of life. An excerpted version of Veysman’s essay appears in today’s Washington Post Health and Science section, and it has provoked a vigorous conversation among commenters—just as it did among Health Affairs readers. Veysman recounts the exhilaration he feels after successfully resuscitating an elderly patient, followed by shock when the family appears and informs him that his patient is in the end stages of cancer and has standing “Do Not Resuscitate” and “Do Not Intubate” orders. “I get the story—several failed rounds of ch... Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3350250 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:13:26 +0100 3350250 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3350244&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007001.html DNA extracted from fossil eggs thousands of years old might allow eventually resurrection of extinct species. An international team isolated the delicate DNA molecules of species including the massive "elephant birds" of the genus Aepyorni. The Proceedings of the Royal Society B research demonstrated the approach also on emu, ducks and the extinct moa. Some of the extinct species were wiped out by humans. Should we bring them back? In one case 19,000 year old DNA was isolated. They said: "We show that genetic material is preserved in the eggshell matrix and have successfully imaged the DNA via microscopy. "Using new techniques we obtain DNA signatures from a variety of fossil eggshells, including the extinct moa and elephant birds and... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3350244 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3350244 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3335277&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006986.html The chief argument against the egg market is that banning it would protect donors. A measure passed Thursday by the state House, intended to make it illegal for a woman to sell her eggs, could jeopardize state fertility clinics, doctors at two Oklahoma City facilities said Thursday. House Bill 3077 easily won House approval, passing 85-8. It now goes to the Senate. This bill would have a number of deleterious effects. First off, it would reduce the supply of eggs. Second, it would lower the quality of eggs. The women who are the healthiest, smartest, prettiest, and with best dispositions would not get offered the tens of thousands that now entice them to donate eggs. With less competition bidding up... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3335277 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3335277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3287704&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006958.html Are dolphins sufficiently self-aware to deserve more ethical treatment from humans? Emory University neuroscientist Lori Marino will speak on the anatomical basis of dolphin intelligence at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference (AAAS) in San Diego, on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m. "Many modern dolphin brains are significantly larger than our own and second in mass to the human brain when corrected for body size," Marino says. A leading expert in the neuroanatomy of dolphins and whales, Marino will appear as part of a panel discussing these findings and their ethical and policy implications. Some dolphin brains exhibit features correlated with complex intelligence, she says, including a large expanse of neocortical volume that is more convoluted... (Source: Futur... FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3287704 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3287704 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3223222&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2FniLQQJBGwlw%2Favatar-future-of-bioethics-is-now.html Avatar, the recently released big budget movie by James Cameron, has taken the entertainment industry by storm. Normally “not to be pleased” film critics cannot find enough complimentary words to print. With a $300 million price tag to produce, Avatar has become an instant “cult hit”. Audiences leave theaters in awe of the computer generated special effects that reportedly have transformed the movie viewing experience to a state of virtual reality. In addition to achieving ultimate moviemaking technology, the story line is a compelling account of a science fiction that may be less fiction than it is real science.The story of Avatar explores the ability of a human to inhabit the mind and control the body of a lesser being created by science to accomplish tasks considered too dangero... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3223222 Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:25:07 +0100 3223222 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3182161&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006875.html Susan Tollefsen, who gave birth to her 2 year old daughter Freya when she was 57, is now 59 and pregnant with baby #2. A 59-year-old woman has become the oldest person ever to be offered fertility treatment by a British clinic. Doctors at the private London Women’s Clinic on Harley Street, one of the most successful IVF units in the country, have unanimously agreed to help Susan Tollefsen conceive. Leave aside the ethical considerations due to possible harm to the fetus due to developing in a 59 year old womb. It is amazing that a 59 year old womb might carry a baby to term. Of course, a few older women have already completed pregnancies successfully (though some with... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3182161 Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3182161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3145940&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006850.html The California Medical Board doesn't think highly of medical procedures that produce octuplet pregnancies. A disciplinary complaint filed by the California Medical Board said that Dr Michael Kamrava acted “beyond reasonable judgment” by helping Nadya Suleman to conceive octuplets. 8 babies developing in a womb are each going to get well less than ideal nutrition for optimal development of brain and body. Such babies are at risk of learning disabilities and other problems later in life. A disaster? Dr. Richard Paulson, who heads the fertility program at the University of Southern California, said it sounds like Kamrava did nothing ''to prevent this disaster.'' ''An octuplet pregnancy, in my opinion, is a disaster,'' said Paulson, who has no role in the... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3145940 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3145940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3084819&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2Fp4kXp8w9N3g%2Flet_them_eat_anti-psychotics.php I couldn't resist that title, but I must admit it isn't mine; the author's post is here.  This is about the NYT article about the finding that children on Medicaid are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medication, compared to those with private insurance.  The obvious correlation is that children with Medicaid are from poor families, whereas those with private insurance are from families that have more resources.  It is one of those studies that documents an evocative finding, without really telling you what it means.  It is up to everyone else to decide what it means.  Poor Children Likelier to Get Antipsychotics By DUFF WILSON Published: December 11, 2009 Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callo... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3084819 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:05:38 +0100 3084819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3066993&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F9y8BQuQZYf8%2Fdonate-50-get-progress-in-bioethics.html Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Women’s Bioethics Project so we may distribute as many copies as possible of the soon to be released book "Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics" (MIT Press 2010) to policy makers, science writers and bloggers around the world. This important book will help ensure progressive values of social justice, critical optimism, practical problem solving inform bioethical debate on issues such as stem cell research, genetic modification, therapeutic cloning and end-of-life issues. I wrote chapter 4 on "Bioethics: The New Conservative Crusade." Don’t let the debate be defined by narrowly driven ideological interests.Help us reach our goal of one hundred books distributed by January 2010. A $50 donation will get a copy of the ... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3066993 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:43:14 +0100 3066993 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044719&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2009%2F11%2F30%2Fthe-seattle-god-committee-a-cautionary-tale%2F As uncomfortable as it is for many Americans to accept, allocation issues are a permanent feature of our health care system, “reformed” or not.  Who should get the H1N1 flu vaccine first? In a flu pandemic or a biological disaster, who should be put on respirators and who should not?  These hard choices are realities, not conspiracies.  And then there are the fictions—which some staunchly believe or promote. Health reform’s imaginary “death panels” voting yea or nay on Grandma’s life are the most widespread of these pernicious notions. While the death panel idea gained currency because it was attributed to the government, a committee making life-or-death decisions did exist in the U.S. And it was a private-sector creation.   Called the Admissions and Policies Committee... Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044719 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:56:34 +0100 3044719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2992648&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2009%2F11%2F13%2Fhivaids-funding-shortfall-looms%2F The newly released November-December 2009 edition of Health Affairs features a series of articles on the challenges posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  The articles focus on steps policymakers can take to change the dynamics of the pandemic so that millions of lives will be saved, infections prevented, and overall costs made more affordable. Publication of the series was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In conjunction with the issue, Health Affairs has also produced a special series of policy briefs on the issues surrounding the pandemic. These briefs, also produced with the support of the Gates Foundation, are available on the Health Affairs Web site.    Increasing prevalence of HIV infection, coupled with the current global economic slowdown, portends a drastic ... Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2992648 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:33:22 +0100 2992648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2973883&cid=t_104997_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2F08%2Fweekly-news-round-up-118%2F Christine has a post at Our Bodies Our Blog about the passage of the health reform legislation last night. She notes As I watched Democrats congratulate themselves, it was difficult to feel celebratory. Passage of the Stupak amendment — which bars a government-run insurance plan from offering abortion *and* prohibits women who receive government insurance subsidies from purchasing private plans that include abortion coverage — sucked a lot of the energy out of the room. She has a number of posts on health care reform and especially the Stupak amendment from yesterday, with links to a number of additional resources and roll call vote results, so I won’t try to duplicate all of that info here – I’m still trying to catch up on and absorb all of the intricacies. See Our B... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2973883 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:44:46 +0100 2973883 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2958800&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006684.html A murderer in Italy got a lighter sentence due to a judge's view that the murderer had a genetically impaired ability to resist violetn impulses. A judge's decision to reduce a killer's sentence because he has genetic mutations linked to violence raises a thorny question – can your genes ever absolve you of responsibility for a particular act? Regards the idea of genes absolving someone of responsibity: If they do then I think the genes reduce a person's rights at the same time. If a person has genes that compel him to violate the rights of others then that person lacks attributes needed to make that person into a full rights-possessing being. In my view human rights do not come... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2958800 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2958800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2924798&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006652.html When Americans are near the end of life hospitals try to keep them alive past the point their bodies can do it. Does anyone think this is a good idea? Patients who die in the hospital in the United States are almost five times as likely to have spent part of their last hospital stay in the ICU than patients in England. What's more, over the age of 85, ICU usage among terminal patients is eight times higher in the U.S. than in England, according to new research from Columbia University that compared the two countries' use of intensive care services during final hospitalizations. "Evaluating the use of intensive care services is particularly important because it is costly, resource intensive,... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2924798 Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2924798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916069&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2FncTf-uXKHro%2Fopen-letter-to-future-bioethicists.html I couldn't attend the ASBH meeting in DC this year, but apparently, Ezekiel "Zeke" Emanuel gave quite a controversial speech. While I don't have the text of the original speech, my guess is that it will be posted on the ASBH website at some point. But what I do have is Art Caplan's response, from which you can glean certain aspects of Zeke's speech -- I'll be interested to see/hear what kind of reaction this gets: Facts alone won’t suffice for the field of bioethics When you get old enough as a practitioner in any field young people seek your advice about what they should do if they want to do what you do. Given that my age seems to be increasing exponentially this has been happening to me with increasing frequency. Undergraduates, high school students, medical students, those pursui... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916069 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:23:35 +0100 2916069 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2904849&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006640.html In a blog post about Elinor Ostrom's sharing the Nobel Prize in economics for work on the Tragedy of the Commons and how people voluntarily reduce the size of that tragedy John Tierney of the New York Times tries to argue that people do not have children for a profit. I think he's taking too narrow a view of profit. First, Dr. Hardin himself misapplied the fable. Declaring that “overpopulation” was a tragedy of the commons, he warned that “freedom to breed will bring ruin to all.” He and others advocated a “lifeboat ethic” of denying food aid, even during emergencies, to poor countries with rapidly growing populations. But “overpopulation” was not even a theoretical example of the tragedy of... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2904849 Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2904849 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2901613&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2FX2bnsHPmDkw%2Fkudos-to-susan-m-wolf-for-her-election.html You may have noticed that we have been on hiatus, while we revamp and reorganize our blog, but I wanted to take this opportunity to give credit where credit is due: One of my heroes, Susan M. Wolf, has been elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine. She is the McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy and the Faegre & Benson Professor of Law at U of MN, the founding Director of the Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences and the founding Chair of the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences. She is also a professor of medicine in the University's Medical School and a faculty member in the University's Center for Bioethics. She is also the author of Feminism and Bioethics: Beyond Reproduction, which... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2901613 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:56:08 +0100 2901613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2898909&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2009%2F10%2F15%2Fmisplaced-faith-the-real-causes-of-ill-health%2F Editor’s Note: The post below by Merrill Goozner first appeared on The Values and Health Reform Connection, a site run by the Hastings Center and supported by Health Affairs as a media sponsor. Goozner’s post can also be found on his blog GoozNews on Health. The Values and Health Reform Connection grew out of the Hastings Center Publication “Connecting American Values With Health Reform” and is dedicated to broadening the discussion regarding intersection of American values and health reform. All are invited to contribute posts to the site. Contributors are invited to respond to one or more essays in “Connecting American Values,” to each other, or to strike out on their own. Some contributions will be co-posted on the Health Affairs Blog, and some contributions w... Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2898909 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:30:22 +0100 2898909 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2883053&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2FB0tFiULLDCM%2Fneurologists_say_enhancement_i.php The topic of neural enhancement has created controversy.  This came to wide attention in late 2007, upon the publication of various articles in Nature, as noted by  Shelley Batts, Janet Stemwedel, David Dobbs, Daniel MacArthur, Scicurious and others.  But so far as I know, no esteemed medical organization has taken a position on the subject.  Until now. New Guidance Document Takes on the Ethics of "Neuroenhancement" Medscape Medical News Susan Jeffrey Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2883053 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:41:10 +0100 2883053 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2842482&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006581.html A pair of reports underscore how in vitro fertilization is creating a strange new world. 40 year old Carolyn Savage of Ohio was accidentally impregnated with another couple's embryo and... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2842482 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2842482 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2823935&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006567.html Gregg Easterbrook argues cloning is not unnatural. Others argue that cloning is "unnatural." But nature wants us to pass on our genes; if cloning assists in that effort, nature would... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2823935 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2823935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2741495&cid=t_104997_122_f&fid=34755&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneuropsychological.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fupcoming-event-minneapolis-13-nov-2009.html Center for Bioethics Fall Seminar SeriesTime: 12:15 to 1:30 pmLocation: 1-451 Moos Tower, University of Minnesota campus (unless noted otherwise)Minneapolis, MNITV to University of Minnesota, Duluth, Room 160 Life ScienceNovember 13“Family Stories: Decision Making in Advanced Dementia”Presented byBarbara Elliott, PhDProfessor, Department of Family Medicine, Medical School, Duluth; Director,Clinical Research, Department of Family Medicine; Adjunct Professor,Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, DuluthSeminars are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.For more information email visit www.bioethics.umn.edu (Source: BrainBlog) BrainBlog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2741495 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:00:00 +0100 2741495 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2737723&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006486.html Truth is stranger than fiction. POOR and war-torn, Sudan might be the last place you would expect to find an experiment in cutting-edge fertility treatments. Well, I'd put a few... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2737723 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2737723 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2605967&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006371.html The hormone treatment she underwent to reverse menopause seems a likely cause of the cancer that killed her. Maria del Carmen Bousada died of a tumor that showed up a... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2605967 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2605967 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2527978&cid=t_104997_122_f&fid=34736&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FChannelN-PodcastsPoweredByOdiogo%2F%7E5%2FVA3UucuT598%2F2008-05-21_alcohol_01.wmv [Image by Liber] Conference on Alternative Strategies for Alcoholism Treatment Alcoholism treatment strategies and ethical challenges, with video archives in three parts. Part one features David Musto on temperance history, and starting at 00:40:15 Charles O’Brien details modern pharmacological treatments. Part two has Kathleen Carroll in an animated talk about trials of behavioural therapies and combined approaches, then at 00:57:35 Arthur Caplan speaks about ethical issues around why drug treatment for alcoholism feels threatening to some and their sense of autonomy. Part three is a fascinating panel discussion on legal and ethical issues in specific case reports (includes problems with the grossly inadequate Canadian mental health system and war-on-drugs US Customs bullies: Can... Channel N blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2527978 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:00:28 +0100 2527978 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2510367&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006310.html Imperial College researcher Armand Marie Leroi looks at the future of neo-eugenics. Every year, 4.1 million babies are born in the USA. On the basis of the well-known risk of... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2510367 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2510367 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2510323&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E5%2F6NVe682k5gM%2Fbioethicsandpublicpolicy.pdf Associate executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society and WBP supporter, Marcy Darnovsky argues in a new article in the Democracy Journal that for too long progressives have built a bioethics around opposition to the religious right, and have thus failed to explicate a positive vision. In an article complementary to the WBP’s report (downloadable here), Darnovsky outlines a framework for just such a vision, one that balances individual autonomy with the real social concerns raised by biotechnological advances, such as how will human biotechnologies reshape our sense of ourselves, our relationships, the shape and feel of the world we occupy together? Who will profit, who will lose, and who will survive?: “For many progressives and liberals, President Barack Obama’s Marc... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2510323 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:02:44 +0100 2510323 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441275&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fgallup-moral-propriety-poll-generally.html Gallup has issued its annual poll on what Americans think are morally appropriate behaviors, some of which deal directly with the issues about which we grapple here at SHS, and some of which don't. My last post on the poll covered issues dealing with the use of animals. Now, we turn to bioethical and biotechnological issues.From the poll:Suicide: Only 15% think that suicide is morally proper, unchanged from last year.This result illustrates why assisted suicide advocates have worked so hard to engineer the language. Gooey euphemisms such as "aid in dying" are intended to mask the real subject at hand.Cloning human beings, 88% think it is improper and only 9% proper, down from 11% last year.The massive popular opposition to human cloning is also why research cloning advocates--with the will... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441275 Thu, 21 May 2009 17:21:00 +0100 2441275 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2364957&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2FLr7SXCJv-Qk%2Fpanayiotis-zavos-ive-cloned-human.html Whether the news stories on Panayiotis Zavos’ latest efforts to clone a human embryo are a hoax or not, there is no doubt that a tremendous amount of scientific progress has been made since the 1997 announcement that a sheep had been successfully cloned; cloned primates and pets and the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells and human-nonhuman chimeras are just a few of the scientific discoveries that get us closer everyday to the prospect of a cloned human being. The ability to radically alter human reproduction raises fundamental questions regarding the nature of our humanity and the character of our society.Thousands of scientists, scholars, journalists, religious leaders, and policy makers have debated and discussed the ethical implications of a wide range of reproductive technol... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2364957 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:38:54 +0100 2364957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2349270&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FXOOoMmh_tyA%2F Next-generation technologies are exploding so rapidly in genomics and personalized medicine that the NIH want to help jump-start experiments that will answer some of the bioethical concerns that rose along with the era. Image: Newscom More than 200 grants could receive up to $1 million each from the stimulus funds that were earmarked for the National Institutes of Health’ Challenge Grants program. Ten bioethics-focused programs address issues relating to the commerce of direct-to-consumer genetic tests; ethical issue posed by nanomedicine, tissue engineering and similar emerging technologies; and informed consent issues as medical records become electronic. Genomics becomes an even hotter topic as the NIH requests for more advances and developments of new methods and technologies. The wa... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2349270 Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:28:00 +0100 2349270 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2306969&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F03%2Fresurrecting-useless-eater-approach-to.html So, now that we know that many people thought to be unconscious--are actually awake and aware--some might think that would cause bioethicists to step back from the dehydration agenda. As I have long predicted, not on a bet! An article published in the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy by Oxford bioethicists Guy Kahane and the always crassly utilitarian Julian Saveulescu, makes it clear that demonstrable awareness should be no bar to ending the lives of these disabled patients.This is a 22 page article, and I obviously can't post it all here, even if there weren't copyright issues. But here is the gist: From their article's abstract:Neuroimaging studies of brain-damaged patients diagnosed as in the vegetative state suggest that the patients might be conscious. This might seem to raise no n... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2306969 Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:55:00 +0100 2306969 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2240834&cid=t_104997_83_f&fid=34690&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Finsolence%2F%7E3%2FdKwriXJaFvg%2Fanimals_in_research_and_medical_training.php Over the weekend, some readers sent me a link to a story that, presumably, they thought would be of interest to me, given that I graduated from the University Michigan Medical School back in the late 1980s. Specifically, it's a report that U. of M. has halted the use of dogs in its surgical training: Surgeons training at the University of Michigan Health System will no longer use live, healthy dogs to learn drastic surgical procedures that can save people's lives, the university announced Thursday. The anesthetized animals -- obtained from shelters -- were used to teach tracheotomies, how to fix collapsed lungs, and other emergency procedures. The animals' injuries from the procedures forced them to be euthanized. As anyone who's read this blog since at least last July knows that I'm a ... Respectful Insolence blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2240834 Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:00:00 +0100 2240834 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2222385&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Fi-am-now-associate-director-of.html I was recently asked to assume more responsibilities for the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. I agreed and am now its associate director. This new gig will include speaking, writing, and media on the specific topic of euthanasia/assisted suicide. It will not affect nor limit my broader work on bioethics, animal rights, and human exceptionalism as a Senior Fellow in Human Rights and Bioethics with the Discovery Institute, which is not connected with the Task Force. Nor will it impact my consultancy with the Center for Bioethics and Culture. How fortunate I am to be affiliated with such good people and organizations.And please remember to keep in mind that SHS is my personal blog. The views I express here are my own and not necessarily those of the organizations w... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2222385 Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:38:00 +0100 2222385 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2210349&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F29bWeqF5P9A%2Fclinical_research_and_its_disc.php The NEJM has published a provocative article about the ethics of the globalization of clinical trials.  (The article is openly accessible.)  The big issue is this: clinical trials are very expensive.  It is cheaper to do them overseas, but this raises questions of scientific integrity, as well as questions of ethical integrity. Ethical and Scientific Implications of the Globalization of Clinical Research Economic globalization is an important development of the past half century. Proponents of globalization highlight the benefits of greater economic growth and prosperity; critics point to the exacerbation of economic disparities and the exploitation of workers, particularly in developing (i.e., low- and middle-income) countries. Pharmaceutical and device companies have embr... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2210349 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:09:32 +0100 2210349 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2194955&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F542001137%2Fmore-on-designer-babies.html Kathryn Hinsch, founder and director of the Women's Bioethics Project started a trend with her post, Why I Love Designer Babies -- lots of people are commenting on this and here is just a sampling of the range of views:From Science Progress, who encourages this as a conversation starter,tothe AJOB blog, who writes about the Perfect Baby,toWilliam Saletan on Slate, who asks "Is the era of designer babies finally here"?tothe Los Angeles Times, who says we should select for health, not eye color.We need to continue the dialogue -- your tax deductible gift will help our voices be heard! Please consider a donation to the Women's Bioethics Project. Click here. (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2194955 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:54:33 +0100 2194955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2190678&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F540229564%2Fposition-of-france-regarding-stem-cells.html In conclusion, we think that regarding stem cells, France must not be afraid of there to reflect as all the others imminent bioethics problems, as euthanasia or gene therapy... In FrenchLa France est un pays un peu en retard et en retrait dans le domaine de la bioéthique, spécialement en matière de nouvelles thérapies. Concernant les cellules souches, bases de la thérapie cellulaire, la France a une position qui n’est pas toujours claire.Les cellules souches adultesIl n’y a pas de problèmes majeurs les concernant vu leur origine de prélèvement (placenta, cordon ombilical tissus adultes)Nous pensons, toutefois, qu’il serait important de généraliser la collecte de cellules souches de cordon ombilical ou de placenta, en respectant des règles d’hygiènes et de respect des in... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2190678 Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:16:54 +0100 2190678 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2188069&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Fcosts-of-ivf.php Slate has a piece up, Pregnant Pause: Who should pay for in vitro fertilization?. What might the objection to the bolded section be?:Roughly 10 percent of couples experience infertility, a rate possibly accelerated by the increasing average age of prospective mothers. This demographic trend of older mothers is encouraging (since higher maternal age is a powerful predictor of financial security and the child's future social and educational attainment), but the odds of successful spontaneous pregnancy are lower. And so women increasingly turn to fertility treatments such as ovarian hyperstimulation, which forces the ovaries to pump out more eggs per cycle and increases the risk of having twins or triplets, and IVF, in which fertilized eggs, or embryos, are implanted in the uterus directly. A... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2188069 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:02:00 +0100 2188069 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2156533&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F530773433%2Finteracting-with-experts.html Every so often, you get a really fun opportunity to interact with experts in a field at a casual level. I've had the pleasure of having several of these random moments, and one of my first involved neuroethics, an article by Danniell Dennett, the 2005 National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference, and some professor by the name of Paul Root Wolpe. Of course, it wasn't until later that I realized precisely who Dr. Wolpe was, at which point I promptly suffered from extreme mortification at my casual level of arguing - but I think that's half the fun of those hindsight situations.I had the privilege of getting to know and occasionally work with Dr. Wolpe after that first random meeting, and my impression of him hasn't changed. He's extremely fun to talk to about a wide range of subjects, still ... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2156533 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:54:21 +0100 2156533 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2152827&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Famerican-journal-of-bioethics-review-of_02.html This is the second post on the review of SHS in the current American Journal of Bioethics. We have already highlighted the positives that Yale University bioethicist found with SHS, and now I would like to reply to his criticisms. Latham writes:To be clear: This [human exceptionalism] is a world-view, not an argument. Smith is not a philosopher. Do not come to SHS for a clear statement of the justification for his human exceptionalism, or for a rigorous discussion of the methods by which we can ground human rights without consideration of human capacities. Smith is a polemicist, and like any polemicist, he can be maddening.Well, Secondhand Smokette would agree with that last point. And yes, I am a polemicist, although I hope in the best sense of that term. But that isn't all I am and I don... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2152827 Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:36:00 +0100 2152827 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2152828&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F02%2Famerican-journal-of-bioethics-review-of.html This blog has received a formal review by Yale University bioethicist Stephen R. Latham. I am most pleased that it is a mixed review with some very nice compliments as well as pointed criticisms, and I very much appreciate Latham's even handedness. (When Culture of Death came out, I recall one bioethicist reviewer called it the book that should never have been published!)A thoughtful review deserves a respectful response. I will divide my reaction into two parts. The first--this one--will highlight the positive comments he made. I'll discuss what he found objectionable about SHS (and my work generally) in the next post.Latham "gets" a lot of what I am attempting to accomplish here. From the review (AJOB: 9(2): 65–66, 2009):...Smith’s beliefs are not religiously grounded, but are based ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2152828 Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:05:00 +0100 2152828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2131266&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fextended-q-and-with-yours-truly-on.html I was pleased to have been interviewed by Daniel Herbster for AdvanceUSA about my views on bioethics and human exceptionalism. I thought I would post a few exerpts here, along with the link, for anyone interested in reading the whole thing. First, I was asked why bioethical issues are so important. From the interview: Bioethics is a contraction for "biomedical ethics." It is a field that has profound influence over core areas of human endeavor that help establish and define the morality of society, and indeed, the meaning of human life itself. Should elderly people have their health care rationed? Is assisted suicide a proper medical service? Is it right to create cloned human embryos for use in research or to bring to birth? Is it wrong to abort fetuses because they test positive for Down... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2131266 Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:03:00 +0100 2131266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2121477&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fobama-administration-already-pushing.html Uh, oh: Here it comes. Incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle wants to create a US Agency to control costs based on the UK's Orwellian-named National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which substantially controls the ethics and medical availability of care under the NHS. From a column in the Wall Street Journal:Here in the U.S., President-elect Barack Obama and House Democrats embrace the creation of a similar "comparative effectiveness" entity [as NICE] that will do research on drugs and medical devices. They claim that they don't want this to morph into a British-style agency that restricts access to medical products based on narrow cost criteria, but provisions tucked into the fiscal stimulus bill betray their real intentions.The centerp... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2121477 Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:29:00 +0100 2121477 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2107637&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fmy-predictions-for-2009-in-bioethics.html Each year the Center for Bioethics and Culture asks me to prognosticate about the coming year. This year, that duty is painful. I believe we are entering dark days. But it is my job to call them as I see them without honey coating. (This is an abridged version. For more details read the original article.) I predict:Biotechnology:-- The Bush Embryonic Stem Cell Funding Policy is Toast...-- The Amount of Federal Funding of Human ESCR Will Remain Roughly the Same...-- New Federal Law Will Explicitly Legalize Therapeutic Cloning...-- The Federal Government Will Not Fund Human Cloning in 2000;Assisted Suicide:-- Washington Assisted Suicide Will Quickly Seem Routine...Any abuses or problems that come to light in WA, will, as in Oregon, be ignored by state authorities and go mostly unreported by ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2107637 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:27:00 +0100 2107637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2078751&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005846.html The world's fertility rate will bounce back due to advances in biotechnology (and natural selection). Rajo Devi, 70, had a baby girl, Naveen Lohan, weighing 3lb 4oz, by caesarean section... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2078751 Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2078751 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2074813&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2F28%2Fremembering-jay-katz-the-enduring-voice-of-the-silent-world%2F By the fourth sentence of the preface to The Silent World of Doctor and Patient, Jay Katz has quietly issued a startling challenge to a fundamental principle of the doctor-patient relationship. He writes: It took time before I appreciated fully the oddity of physicians’ insistence that patients follow doctors’ orders. During my socialization as a physician [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2074813 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:36:34 +0100 2074813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2065366&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E5%2F495291346%2FAAAS_workshop_report_education_of_dual_use_life_science_research.pdf Whatever it is you may celebrate at this time of year, we at the Women’s Bioethics Project wish you a happy and healthy holiday! Here is our week in review:~ Rat embryonic stem cells created; genetically engineered rats should follow soon, providing new models of human disease.~ AAAS workshop report recommends how to address education for scientists about biosecurity and the dual use dilemma for federal government, research institutions, and scientific organizations (co-authored by Mark Frankel).~ An analysis of biosecurity policy in the context of gene synthesis. How much is too much regulation?~ Biodefense Research: A Win-Win Challenge. An editorial proposing the optimal level of oversight of life-sciences research—coauthored by a number of National Science Advisory Board for Biosecu... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2065366 Fri, 26 Dec 2008 03:43:40 +0100 2065366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2039812&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fwhy-isnt-this-news-anti-slavery-law.html The Discovery Institute's embryonic Center for Human Rights and Bioethics--of which I am a part--is very concerned with working to prevent slavery and human trafficking. That is why we were so pleased that the William Wilberforce Trafficking and Victim's Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 has passed Congress and will be signed into law. Considering the importance of this issue to human freedom, it is puzzling that Google and Yahoo searches found zero news stories.The law--that will be in effect until 2011--focuses on trafficking within the United States and throughout the world; it greatly strengthens the role and authority of the Trafficking in Persons Office and greatly enhances the tools available to domestic criminal prosecutors of traffickers. It also increases protections availab... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2039812 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:02:00 +0100 2039812 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2035519&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fscientific-american-does.html I wasn't planning on exploring the Vatican's new bioethics pronouncement. But the media's reportage does bear some discussion. Scientific American's story, for example, contains the following subheadline: Mischaracterizations of science lurk in the Vatican's latest instructions on bioethicsThat was a surprise. In my experience, whether one agrees or disagrees with Catholic moral views, the science upon which the Church bases its analyses, at least based on pronouncements I have seen, is always sterling. So I wondered: Where did the report go wrong?Turns out, unsurprisingly, that it is the Scientific American that is conflating science with statements by the Vatican that are not scientific in nature. The magazine bases its false charge on an interview with a reproductive health "expert," wh... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2035519 Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:54:00 +0100 2035519 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2027056&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005776.html While most rhetoric about making the world a better place speaks in terms of less hunger, less disease, less war, less injustice, and less environmental damage a group of scientists... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2027056 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2027056 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2013554&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fnew-york-times-softens-ground-for.html The New York Times has noticed the crass utilitarianism that permeates the UK's NHS--run by the Orwellian-named bioethics board National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)--and seems to be softening the ground for our accepting similar utilitarian overlords here. From the story: When Bruce Hardy's kidney cancer spread to his lung, his doctor recommended an expensive new pill from Pfizer. But Mr. Hardy is British, and the British health authorities refused to buy the medicine. His wife has been distraught.If the Hardys lived in the United States or just about any European country other than Britain, Mr. Hardy would most likely get the drug, although he might have to pay part of the cost. A clinical trial showed that the pill, called Sutent, delays cancer progression for six... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2013554 Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:14:00 +0100 2013554 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2005804&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005752.html Baylor researchers used DNA chips to test 270 genetic conditions in developing fetuses. Many pregnant women have their unborn children screened for genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. But standard... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2005804 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2005804 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1998955&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005748.html Eugenic abortion cuts the incidence of Down's Syndrome in Denmark. A new national screening strategy in Denmark has halved the number of infants born with Down's syndrome and increased the... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1998955 Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1998955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1980676&cid=t_104997_93_f&fid=34899&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mexicomedstudent.com%2F2008%2F11%2F798 Adding to my new experiences as a patient, I have now run into heretofore unforeseen side of the HIPAA monster. As a patient, it should be protecting me, right? Of course not! Legislated in part to protect privacy, HIPAA is one of the most misunderstood and abused laws by healthcare personnel, particularly clerical staff at the front lines of the patient-physician records interface who may not have much of a healthcare (or all that much educational) background to boot.  In my case, I called wanting a report from a minor surgery a few weeks after I had it done. I had already called the surgeon’s office and they said that while they did have a copy via their electronic medical record (EMR), the actual operative report was the hospital’s property and they couldn’t give me a... Mexico Medical Student blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1980676 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:38:26 +0100 1980676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1975201&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F458661156%2Fwbp-advisory-member-r-alta-charo-joins.html *****Congratulations and Hooray! ***** for R. Alta Charo, one of the WBP's Advisory Board members, who has been named by President-elect Barack Obama to his Transition Team. A prominent nationally known bioethicist, she is also the Warren P. Knowles Professor of Law and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Well known for her brilliance, insightful lectures, keen wit, and scholarly publications, Charo is working on the team reviewing the Department of Health and Human Services, taking advantage of her familiarity with a number of issues related to bioethics, health policy, and science policy.The full press release from the University of Wisconsin can be found here. (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1975201 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:14:35 +0100 1975201 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1968933&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F456646050%2Fmoreno-named-to-obama-transition-team.html News alert: Women's Bioethics Project advisory board member Jonathan D. Moreno has been named to President-elect Obama’s transition team. Dr. Moreno will be leading the President's Council on Bioethics Review Team. You can read the official announcement here. This is excellent news for the field of bioethics, science policy, and progressive values. Congratulations to Dr. Moreno and we look forward to working with him to ensure that women’s voices, health concerns, and unique life experiences strongly influence ethical issues in health care and biotechnology. (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1968933 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:02:11 +0100 1968933 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1947193&cid=t_104997_93_f&fid=34899&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mexicomedstudent.com%2F2008%2F11%2F796 In the October 2008 issue of the American College of Emergency Physicians’ (ACEP) Journal, an op-ed was posted entitled “Medical Blogs: Communication Vehicle or Social Contract?” (if the link takes you to a sign-up page, close the window and click it again–there’s a strange cookie that’s set that will bypass the registration screen) As I read it, the first thing that struck me was the comically dated language and information. The death knell of this article’s significance was already ringing in the first paragraph: According to the Internet phenomenon Wikipedia, blogs (short for Web-logs) are Web sites, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentaries, descriptions of events, or other materials such as graphics and video. T... Mexico Medical Student blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1947193 Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:02:49 +0100 1947193 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1964600&cid=t_104997_107_f&fid=36585&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHighlightHEALTH%2F%7E3%2Fv1PX-vIx6ag%2F This article was published on Highlight HEALTH. Other Articles You May LikeWhat You Believe Can Kill YouThe Cancer Genome Atlas Reports Molecular Characterization of Brain TumorsThe Promise of Stem Cells to Repair the HeartMapping Connections in the Human BrainIncreased Coffee Consumption Associated with Lower Risk of Liver Cancer (Source: Highlight HEALTH) Highlight HEALTH blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1964600 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:09:53 +0100 1964600 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1888961&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F10%2Fmichael-cook-says-scuttle-bioethics-and.html Boy, I get accused of being hard on bioethics, but Michael Cook, the creator of Bioedge, has topped me. He blew his top, finally sick and tired of the rush at prestige universities to reward the most radical bioethicists with big dollars (or pounds), the more radical the better.We all know about Peter Singer and Princeton. Another case in point is Singer's fellow Australian Julian Savulescu, who I have written about here at SHS. I have seen him debate and there is no question, he is a real doozy, so far gone that he was larded with a ton of money by a foundation and brought to Oxford! From Cook's column:Savulescu has broken new ground. A youthful 44, he has been at Oxford since 2002 as the head of something called the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.His postal address may be an ivory to... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888961 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:01:00 +0100 1888961 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1853550&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F10%2Fkilling-for-organs-msm-begins-to-notice.html I have been warning here at SHS and in my other writings, that some bioethicists and organ transplant physicians want societal license to kill patients for their organs. Now, thanks to Will Saletan writing in the Washington Post, the MSM is finally noticing. From Saletan's column:Robert Truog, an ethicist who supports the Denver protocol, says this redefinition of death has gone too far. Let's accept that we're taking organs from living people and causing death in the process, he argues. This is ethical as long as the patient has "devastating neurologic injury" and has provided, through advance directive or a surrogate, informed consent to be terminated this way. We already let surrogates authorize removal of life support, he notes. Why not treat donations similarly? Traditional safeguards... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1853550 Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:32:00 +0100 1853550 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1834741&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F403926604%2Ftop-10-hot-careers-for-2012.html I'm often asked by my students "what kind of job can I get with a master's degree in bioethics?" -- the short answer is that one needs to look at the master's degree as a supplemental degree -- that is, it is beneficial in terms of analysis, problem-solving, and critical thinking in your basic field. Last month, Daily Galaxy published a Future 'Top 10' Hot Careers in 2012, and all ten arguably have aspects that could benefit from an bioethics (that is the broadest spectrum definition of bioethics -- from food ethics to neuroethics to healthcare ethics to computer ethics and beyond) perspective: 1) Organic food Industry 2) Computational Biology 3) Parallel Programming 4) Data Technology 5) Simulation Engineering 6) Boomer Caregiving 7) Genetic Counseling 8) Brain Analysts 9) Space To... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1834741 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:32:15 +0100 1834741 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1811256&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F09%2Fhave-microphone-will-talk.html I was honored to appear on Friday the 19th of September before the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, as part of its series on "Life Threatening Public Policy." My presentation is a bit lengthy--more than an hour--during which I focus on human exceptionalism, human equality, universal human rights, bioethics, personhood theory, infanticide, the odious promotion of harvesting organs from the people with profound cognitive disabilities, futile care theory, and the duty to die.If what I had to say is of interest, hit this link and listen in to the whole program, including comments about the series and introductory remarks. Thanks to all, particularly Ed Preneta of the CTCDD for hosting me (and for the beer), and to Dan Caley of the Rhode Island Developmental Disabilities Counc... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1811256 Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:29:00 +0100 1811256 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1809629&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F09%2Fpushing-duty-to-die-in-uk.html I am concluding a very successful trip to MA and CT, giving a series of speeches to advocates for, and defenders of, people with developmental and cognitive disabilities, in which I have warned against utilitarian bioethics and its explicit and implicit push toward the so-called "duty to die." This view is even more pronounced in the United Kingdom, where one of the most prominent ethicists is a woman named Baronness Warnock. As reported by the Telegraph, Warnock has recently called on dementia patients to kill themselves to spare society the burden of their care. From the story: Elderly people suffering from dementia should consider ending their lives because they are a burden on the NHS and their families, according to the influential medical ethics expert Baroness Warnock. The veteran G... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1809629 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:14:00 +0100 1809629 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1802707&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005550.html There is a trend for younger British women in their early 30s to use sperm donors to start pregnancies. So-called "single motherhood by choice" has always existed: around 250 of... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1802707 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1802707 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1759771&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F09%2Fkilling-for-organs-more-analysis.html I have written from time to time about the drive within some in the organ transplantation and bioethics communities to do away with the dead donor rule in order to permit patients to be killed for their organs. I expand on that in this article published in the Center for Bioethics newsletter. From the column:This isn't a fringe movement. Indeed, an article urging the extinction of the dead donor rule just appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine , probably the most prestigious medical journal in the world. ("The Dead Donor Rule and Organ Transplantation" NEJM (359:7, August 14, 2008), The authors, Robert D. Troug, MD, a physician at Harvard Medical School, and Franklin D. Miller, a bioethicist at the NIH, claim that patients brain dead may not really be dead, since, as one example, ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1759771 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:13:00 +0100 1759771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1754712&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005504.html The gene AVPR1a codes for the arginine vasopressin receptor 1A which influences altruism, monogamy, and other behaviors. Genesis Biolabs wants you to test your prospective spouse for versions of AVPR1a... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1754712 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1754712 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1717080&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F08%2Fgay-twist-on-medical-conscience-issue.html This is a new angle on the right of patients to demand treatment and when doctors can say no. This time it involves a religious objection to providing artificial insemination for a lesbian.The doctor believed it was immoral to help a homosexual get pregnant and refused to participate, but referred her to someone else for the services. The new doctor was not covered by health insurance. The woman in question sued the original doctor and the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that anti discrimination laws trump religious objections. From the story:The ruling, based on a state law prohibiting businesses from discriminating against customers because of their sexual orientation, comes three months after the court struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage. "This isn't just a win ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717080 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:30:00 +0100 1717080 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1713835&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F08%2Fkilling-for-organs-more-on-attempt-to.html Last week I posted two criticisms of the NEJM article advocating the dismantling of the dead donor rule (here and here) that requires death before the taking of vital organs. I got some backstage blowback that I painted with too broad a brush about the kind of support such proposals have within bioethics. I don't think I did that, given that the attempt to kill the dead donor rule is being mounted in the most Establishment medical and bioethics journals by some of the most respected thinkers in their fields, but there is no question that "killing for organs" is far from the unanimous view--for example Art Caplan's good work in this area--a point that I could perhaps have made more clear. (The URL for the NEJM article is also now available, which can be accessed here.)Still, it seems to me ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1713835 Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:11:00 +0100 1713835 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1688968&cid=t_104997_83_f&fid=34690&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Finsolence%2F%7E3%2F359076492%2Fjenny_mccarthy_might_have_some_competiti.php This is disturbing. No, it's not disturbing because it's a story potentially about autism. It's not even disturbing because it indicates that Jenny McCarthy might soon have some competition in the brain dead antivaccinationist autism mom competition. It's disturbing because of who Jenny's new competition might be: Britney has a whole new problem on her hands to deal with. According to In Touch, she fears that her youngest son Jayden James may be autistic. Family friends say he often seems to be off in his own little world, playing by himself, and he starts crying for no reason. Britney and Kevin are in agreement to have Jayden get tested for Autism, which is a neurological disorder that affects communication skills. We hope that that's not the case, but it's better to be safe than ... Respectful Insolence blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1688968 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:08:45 +0100 1688968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1679277&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F08%2Ftheyre-picking-on-me-over-at.html One Summer Johnson takes exception to my SHS post suggesting that egg selling be banned. (Whimper). From his entry:Somehow it seems unjust to me to ask women to undergo what all acknowledge to be a difficult, painful, and for some women risky process to donate eggs--whether for altruistic or other reasons--and at least not compensate her for her time and on some sort of model of "hazard pay". So explain this argument to me, Mr. Egg Man, why is it okay to ask women to undertake the health risks for no pay, yet compensation for time or effort would be so horrible as to recommending banning the practice? That may be because he is a member of the buying class and apparently believes it is acceptable for women to risk their health and fertility so that cloning researchers can do their thing. M... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1679277 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:19:00 +0100 1679277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1630921&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F07%2Fjustice-departments-failures-on-human.html My colleague at the Discovery Institute, John R. Miller, has a piece in today's New York Times on slavery. Slavery is an important matter impacting human exceptionalism that I have covered here at SHS, but not nearly enough. Thank goodness for Miller-whose work at the State Department on this issue was unremitting, and who continues his commitment in a new project being developed at the DI (of which I am a part) called the Program for Human Rights and Bioethics. He writes: From 2002 to 2006, I led the State Department's efforts to monitor and combat human trafficking. I felt my job was to nurture a 21st-century abolitionist movement with the United States at the lead. At times, my work was disparaged by some embassies and regional bureaus that didn't want their host countries to be critici... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1630921 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:56:00 +0100 1630921 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1582895&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F07%2Fnhs-meltdown-elderly-woman-starved.html I have heard rumors of stories like this from my contacts in the UK, but have not posted on it because that is what they were: Rumors. But now, the BBC has reported that a care facility might have tried to starve an elderly woman to save money. From the story: Ellen Westwood, 88, was in Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital for two months being treated for dementia and C.difficile, which she had previously contracted. Her daughter Kathleen Westwood said the hospital decided in February it was in her "best interests" to halt fluids and nutrition--a move the family opposed... Ms Westwood said she and her father were called into a room at Selly Oak Hospital on 8 February and told doctors had decided to withdraw all fluids, food and hydration. They said they had begun giving Mrs Westwood morphine "b... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1582895 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:11:00 +0100 1582895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1531595&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2F20%2Fshould-fda-regulate-nanomedicine-differently%2F Editor’s Note: In an interview published this week, Health Affairs Contributing Editor Barbara Culliton asks Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Associate Commissioner For Science, Norris Alderson, about his agency’s regulation of nanomedicine and the potential for health care cost savings. Here’s an excerpt of their conversation: Barbara Culliton: Nanomedicine is the “next big thing” in medicine, [...] (Source: Health Affairs Blog) Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1531595 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:49:24 +0100 1531595 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1526089&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F314560572%2Fthe_next_big_gardasil_controve.php Gardasil is the vaccine from Merck that greatly lowers the risk of infection from some human papilloma virus (HPV) infections. The first big controversy had to do with the practice of giving the vaccine to young girls.  To be most effective, it should be given prior to the commencement of sexual exposure.  So the recommendation is to give it to girls at age 12.  This led some persons to complain that it might encourage sexual activity in contexts they deemed inappropriate. The ethics of this have been covered in detail elsewhere. The reason to give it to girls, is that some of the infections increase the risk for cervical cancer.  Boys, not having cervixes, are at less risk. But the risk for males is not zero.  HPV can cause anal cancer or throat cancer.  T... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1526089 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:29:36 +0100 1526089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1512211&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2Fheredity-and-hope-by-ruth-schwartz.php The subtitle, The Case for Genetic Screening, seems to say it all. But Cowan comes at the topic as an historian with an interest in medical ethics. Here's how she makes her case:1. She shows that historically the folks who came up with eugenics were different from the folks who came up with genetic screening. She is aware of the possibility of genetic fallacy, but I think she knows that people like it when their ideas flow from pure springs. She focuses on Tay-Sachs, beta-thalassemia, sickle-cell anemia, and PKU, showing that with the partial exception of sickle-cell, the drive for genetic testing came from parents whose children suffered from genetic diseases and from communities at high risk for the genetic disease. Thus, genetic screening is a bottom-up social phenomenon, not a top-down... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1512211 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100 1512211 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1502608&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2Fwisdom-of-repugnance.php Engineering Life: The Dog that Didn't Bark in the Night:...Erwin Chargaff, an eminent Columbia University biologist, called genetic engineering "an irreversible attack on the biosphere.""The world is given to us on loan," he warned. "We come and we go; and after a time we leave earth and air and water to others who come after us. My generation, or perhaps the one preceding mine, has been the first to engage, under the leadership of the exact sciences, in a destructive colonial warfare against nature. The future will curse us for it."At the same time, people warned that we were doing the unnatural, something that humans were not meant to do. "We can now transform that evolutionary tree into a network," declared Robert Sinsheimer, a biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "We ... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1502608 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:37:00 +0100 1502608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1499831&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2Fworrying-about-bioethics-crisis.html An article has been published in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) entitled "Bioethics Crisis Looms Unless NIH Changes Course, Critics Warn," byline Richard Monastersky. Bioethics crisis? Apparently, practitioners believe we need more bioethicists to tell us what to do in future biotechnological research. From the story: The nation is adrift when it comes to the academic field of bioethics, according to two prominent medical officials, who call on the National Institutes of Health to chart a strategic plan for training more people in that area and for conducting more research into ethical aspects of medicine. The dearth of leadership and support for that work erodes public trust in government-supported medical-research programs, which pour billions of dollars into a... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1499831 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:14:00 +0100 1499831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1450197&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F05%2Futilitarian-bioethics-anything-goes-on.html John Harris is an influential UK bioethicist whose hard core utilitarianism makes his ideas dangerous and potentially as tyrannical as those of Peter Singer--perhaps more. I first became aware of Harris when researching Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America, when I read an article he wrote in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal called "The Concept of the Person and the Value of Life," in which he wrote: Many, if not most of the problems of health care ethics presuppose that we have a view about what sorts of beings have something we might think of as ultimate moral value. Or, if this sounds to apocalyptic then we certainly need to identify the sorts of individuals who have "the highest" moral value or importance...Harris's point was that human nonpersons can be kil... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1450197 Sat, 17 May 2008 14:16:00 +0100 1450197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1445990&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fnih-trial-to-assess-chelation-therapy.html Conclusion are reasonably succinct and make the important points. Readers who want to learn more details, who want to see more evidence for our assertions, or who are compelled by an odd fascination with crackpotism (my own weakness) will want to read more. I've posted a similar announcement on Science-Based Medicine. (Source: Health Care Renewal) Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1445990 Fri, 16 May 2008 12:00:00 +0100 1445990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1426503&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F285268125%2F   Scientists and policy developers at the Translating ELSI, Ethical Legal Social Implications of Human Genetics Research conference have been mulling over the myriad of ethical arguments over testing and storing our kids’ DNA. The biggest driver for the advancement of genetic testing is the ‘early detection improves outcomes’ argument and if an individual is found to be at risk of a particular disease then life-long surveillance is a remedy. However, consider the scenario that you’ve just discovered that your 9 year old daughter has a risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer and your 6 year son is at risk of early-onset Alzheimer’s.  Where do you go for advice? What can you do? Another unique consideration is what happens to the biobank samples in... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1426503 Wed, 07 May 2008 10:15:58 +0100 1426503 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1426504&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F285259938%2F Following my recent article on ethical guidelines for informed consent in genomic studies, a group of scientists met at the Translating ESLI conference in Cleveland to debate this whole ethical argument. This issue is particularly critical for genome-wide association studies and in establishing and using large biobanks. It was universally acknowledged that consent forms are difficult to read for participants who do not have reading skills beyond middle school or high school, for example. As a result, these paticipants may be unaware of what exactly the research could mean to them. Laura Beskow, a researcher at Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy worked with the Association of American Medical Colleges to start a working group on informed consent issues and what ... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1426504 Wed, 07 May 2008 09:57:34 +0100 1426504 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1414931&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005173.html Genetic sequences contain information useful for judging people for health risks and potential productivity in different occupations. But the US Congress doesn't want employers or insurers to use the results... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1414931 Fri, 02 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1414931 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1373418&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F270701011%2Froundupresistant_weeds.php Here at ScienceBlogs, we've regularly posted about the thorny issue of antibiotic overuse, and the subsequent antibiotic resistance.  This is a good example of evolution in action; it's also a good reason why we need to study and understand evolution.   But antibiotic resistance is not the only such example.  The same principle applies to herbicides and weeds. Naturally, a good example comes to us courtesy of Monsanto, the company that everyone loves to hate.  (There is even a movie now, The World According to Monsanto.  It's on Google video, here.) You see, Monsanto has made a lot of money by engineering crops that are resistant to their most popular herbicide, Roundup® (glyphosate). The idea is that you can plant these crops, then bathe the field with Roun... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1373418 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:57:43 +0100 1373418 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1366718&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F268294755%2F Continuing G&H’s exclusive interview with Navigenics’ Medical Director Dr Michael Nierenberg, we explore the whole issue of privacy, insurance, GINA and ethics….. One of the main consumer concerns is that of privacy of information, both in terms that a genetic test has been undertaken but also that the results of the test are kept private and out of the public domain.  At the time of writing, the controversial GINA (Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act) is being passed by the US Senate which will enable genetic testing information to be kept private and not be used to discriminate against an individual, particularly by the insurance industry.  The insurance industry is understandable against the Bill.  Dr Nierenberg. Navigenics’ Medical Director, ad... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1366718 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:00:40 +0100 1366718 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1344262&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005107.html How long till wolf-boy gets created? Scientists at Newcastle University have created part-human, part-animal hybrid embryos for the first time in the UK, the BBC can reveal. The embryos survived... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1344262 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1344262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1338041&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E5%2F261085727%2Fviewcontent.cgi My adopted home town of Lubbock, Texas was in the news this week—no we haven’t arrested the Chippendale Dancers again... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1338041 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:14:15 +0100 1338041 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1329096&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F258630421%2Fillustrating-science.html io9 explains how the top scientific discovery of 2007 was nearly overlooked by the mass media (and thus general public) because no one could figure out how to simplify it: For a long time, It seemed... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1329096 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:54:17 +0100 1329096 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1329090&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F258598373%2F It’s been quite a month for genetics and ethics!  There has been much commentary on GINA (Genetic Information Non discrimination Act) and now an influential academic group have developed an ethical framework of recommendations to encourage individuals to join whole-genome association studies. According to a large group of genomics scholars, researchers, ethicists, and policy designers and watchers, in order to live up to its potential, whole-genome research in the future should be built upon some ETHICAL foundation that will give people the confidence and trust they will need in order to become volunteers. The group of experts published a statement of consensus this week in PLoS Biology that is intended to serve as practical guidance for scientists involved in whole-genome assoc... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1329090 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:41:00 +0100 1329090 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1305676&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005073.html Outsourcing takes so many forms. Foreigners rent wombs in India in order to save money. Commercial surrogacy, which is banned in some states and some European countries, was legalized in... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1305676 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1305676 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1292286&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F249229696%2Fpublic-enemy-1.html Did you know that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul is bioethics? I rather suspect that makes liberal bioethicists public enemy number one. This news comes from the Catholic Archbishop... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1292286 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:03:27 +0100 1292286 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1255029&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F240921653%2Fbodies_revealed_controversy.php A fellow blogger, Logtar,  tipped me off to a controversy, and asked if I had anything to say about it.  The controversy has come about over an exhibit: Bodies Revealed.  It's a traveling exhibit that displays plastinated human cadavers.  The exhibit was organized by Premier Exhibitions, Inc. A bit of background can be gotten from an article in Scientific American, Plastic Bodies On Display, from 3 April 2000.  The process was invented by Gunther von Hagens of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 1978.  An anatomy professor in the USA opened a laboratory to make use of the technique.  The US laboratory was opened in 1989, at the University of Michigan, by Professor Roy Glover (photo).  Dr. Glover retired from the University in 2004, holding the... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1255029 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:27:58 +0100 1255029 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1252847&cid=t_104997_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F240340913%2F   Leon Kass served as chairman of the bioethics council charged with advising US President George W. Bush on many “hot” bioscience issues such as stem cell research and cloning. Noted for his frankness and pretty much misogynistic ideals, once you cut through all this, his arguments do make some sense.  For example: “There’s a large cultural bias toward progress, a belief that innovation is good innovation. …  I’m inclined to a more classically tragic view in the sense that all the good comes with some bad.” AND “In the biomedical area, the people who are bringing you all the novelties occupy the moral high ground. They are human­itarians. They are interested in curing disease, ending suffering, extending life. If anybody says, “L... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1252847 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:59:59 +0100 1252847 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1231885&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F234979698%2Flogic-or-rationale-of-dnr-order.html Whether we've discussed it or not, we've all thought about the prospect of Do Not Resuscitate Orders (DNRs). In most instances the need for them is no mystery nor does it require rocket science to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1231885 Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:22:42 +0100 1231885 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1229273&cid=t_104997_107_f&fid=35041&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fdigitalbio%2F%7E3%2F234382468%2Ffeeling_ethically_challenged.php Confused about terms like "autonomy" and "beneficance" and their relationship to biomedical research? The Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR) is offering a short course at the University of Washington, Feb. 29th and March 1st, on Ethics in Science. Registration details and a description are below. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Discovering Biology in a Digital World) Discovering Biology in a Digital World blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1229273 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:10:09 +0100 1229273 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1223727&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F233415721%2Fembryonic-stem-cell-trials-in-humans.html If all goes as planned, a California biotech firm will begin human testing using human-based embryonic stem cells by Spring of 2008. Dr. Thomas Okarma, CEO of Geron, said the firm plans to conduct... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1223727 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:49:28 +0100 1223727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1221295&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F232770073%2Falways-excellent-kaiser-foundations.html The always excellent Kaiser Foundation's Daily Health Report http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm calls attention to a startling new research finding--apparently "most patients... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1221295 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:11:43 +0100 1221295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1204683&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F229235581%2Fbiobanking-part-3-returning-research.html So: you've agreed to participate in a genetic study for health purposes, and (with or without your consent--see post #2 on biobanking) the data you've provided has been made available to the broader... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1204683 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:21:14 +0100 1204683 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1195889&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F227599154%2Ffrom-wbp-book-club.html While I certainly do not call myself an expert on the latest “must read”, here's one I highly recommend. Written from a feminist perspective, Susan Sherwin’s “No Longer Patient: Feminist Ethics... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1195889 Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:51:29 +0100 1195889 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1181606&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F01%2Fdoctors-urge-nhs-not-to-treat.html In a stunning development, doctors responding to a questionnaire have urged that promiscuous people be denied certain treatments based on their unhealthy lifestyles. From the story: Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who lead irresponsible and unhealthy sexual lives. Those who have sex with too many people should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.I agree, it is absolutely outrageous. But to get your attention, I lied about the proposed targets. It isn't the promiscuous who doctors in the survey want to punish--whose behaviour is at least as dangerous as that of smokers, at least in the short term--but others with unhealthy lifestyles or too many y... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1181606 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:16:00 +0100 1181606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1139747&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F213801462%2Fa_quandary_for_the_supreme_cou.php The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments in Baze v. Rees (WaPo, NYT).  This is a case about a guy who killed a sheriff and a deputy.  He is on death row in Kentucky.  Kentucky plans to execute him using a three-drug cocktail: sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.   Thiopental is a barbiturate sedative; pancuronium is a paralyzing agent; potassium chloride is a salt.  The barbiturate causes a loss of consciousness, then death through cessation of breathing.  Pancuronium also causes death through cessation of breathing.  Potassium chloride causes death by stopping the heart.  This method of execution was proposed by a pathologist in 1977, but was not subject to testing or peer review.   Read the rest of this post... |... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1139747 Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:45:20 +0100 1139747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1132709&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004905.html Once offspring genetic engineering becomes technologically possible should governments subsidize the use of biotechnologies to improve the genes given to babies of poor and dumb people? Some people recoil at... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1132709 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1132709 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1122541&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004891.html Picture groups of women in India living - and, by doing so, working - in a sort of baby factory. ANAND, India - Every night in this quiet western Indian... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1122541 Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1122541 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1121958&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004889.html Most embryos created during in vitro fertilization (IVF) are eventually discarded. MORE than 1m embryos created for fertility treatment in British clinics have been destroyed over the past 14 years,... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1121958 Sat, 29 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1121958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1107002&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004873.html Some members of the British House of Lords argue that the use of donor eggs and sperm to create offspring should not be kept secret from those offspring. Children born... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1107002 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1107002 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1098832&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomensbioethics.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fcreation-of-new-life-forms-next-step.html (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1098832 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:47:00 +0100 1098832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1093100&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomensbioethics.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fuser-guide-ethics-of-bioethics.html (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1093100 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:39:00 +0100 1093100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1082108&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomensbioethics.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fyou-know-youre-bioethicist-when.html (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1082108 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:41:00 +0100 1082108 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1081770&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F197564835%2Fbush_promises_reforms_in_hiv_p.php Last year, on the occasion of World AIDS Day, President Bush promised to reform a discriminatory policy that blocks most persons with HIV from entering the USA.   The current rule does allow for waivers, but the process is cumbersome and unscientific. Now, one week after this year's World AIDS Day, we learn that the proposed new rule is worse than the one it would replace. As reported in Medical News Today: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1081770 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:04:12 +0100 1081770 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1076295&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomensbioethics.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fbioethics-television-private-practice.html (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1076295 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:40:00 +0100 1076295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1057448&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35747&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthaffairs.org%2Fblog%2F2007%2F11%2F28%2Fblog-health-wonk-review-at-health-care-renewal%2F The latest edition of the Health Wonk Review–the biweekly roundup of posts from the health policy blogosphere–is now up at Roy Poses’ blog, Health Care Renewal. He defines his blog as “the product of brain-storming by some physicians and health care researchers who wondered why as health care costs inexorably rose, access decreased, and quality remained stagnant.” His blog’s mission of tracking down corruption and abuses of power in the health care system flavors this edition of the Wonk Review, with links to interesting posts on health care ethics, conflicts of interest, and politics of health reform. Copyright © 2007 Health Affairs Blog. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. All material published on Health Affairs blog, excluding ... Health Affairs Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1057448 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:17:43 +0100 1057448 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1037802&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomensbioethics.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Fholiday-reading-suggestion-liberation.html (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1037802 Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:28:00 +0100 1037802 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1014926&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FvjmG%2F%7E3%2F181740241%2Fplacebos_for_performance_enhan.php Athletic regulatory bodies have a new headache.  This time, the pain is being caused by placebos (an unexpected side effect!)   As reported in New Scientist, athletes have found that they can exert themselves to a greater extent, while under the influence of opioid pain killers.  That is not permitted in competition, of course, but there is a wrinkle.  If they train while under the influence, then get a placebo prior to competition, their brains react to the placebo as if it were the real thing.  Thus, they are less limited by pain during the competition.   The regulatory agencies are aware of this, but do not know what to do.  They can't ban placebos, and there is no urine test to detect them, anyway... Read the rest of this post... | Read the comme... The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1014926 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:14:58 +0100 1014926 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=950886&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004678.html The United States has fewer regulatory obstacles to the paying of egg and sperm donors and also of women who basically rent out their wombs for 9 months to bring... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=950886 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 950886 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=932618&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004653.html His son can't get the son's wife pregnant and so dad is going to do the job. A 72-year-old man is due to become the father of his own "grandchild"... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=932618 Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 932618 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=861817&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004574.html Why aren't polygamists already using sex selection reproduction technology to avoid large scale expulsion of teenage boys from their sects? Over the last six years, hundreds of teenage boys have... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=861817 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0100 861817 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=809553&cid=t_104997_109_f&fid=34699&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fcorpuscallosum%2Fimages%2FAPA.jpeg Hard to know what to make of this.  The American Psychological Association considered a proposal to ban participation in military interrogations.  Specifically, APA members would have been prohibited from assisting in interrogations "in which detainees are deprived of adequate protection of their human rights." The APA national meeting is being held in San Fransisco this year.  In a session 19 August 2007, they chose not to ban all participation.  Instead, they adopted a substitute motion.  Substitute Motion #3 reaffirms their opposition to torture.  However, it stops short of the restrictive measures that some medical and humanitarian groups had called for. Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Corpus Callosum) The Corpus Callosum blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=809553 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 05:46:16 +0100 809553 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=794199&cid=t_104997_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004476.html Imagine you have a fatal disease (for a few of you the imagining is unfortunately not necessary). You are going to check out of the Life Hotel. You are either... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=794199 Sun, 12 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 794199